Top Stories - AllGov

35% of Food Additives Deemed Harmless were Evaluated by Manufacturer or Contractor Hired by Manufacturer

A group of legal and medical professionals reviewed 451 GRAS notifications that were submitted to the FDA between 1997 and 2012. Out of these 451, 22.4% were made by an employee of an additive manufacturer and 13.3% by an employee of a consulting firm selected by the manufacturer—meaning 35% were determined by individuals who may have had a conflict of interest. read more

Surveillance: The Clash between Senator Obama and President Obama

Members of the U.S. House introduced an amendment that would have dismantled the NSA’s bulk phone records collection program—a plan that the Obama White House condemned. But five years ago, Senator Obama cosponsored a bill that would have limited bulk records collection by the NSA. That bill died in committee, as did a similar measure introduced in 2005, which Senator Obama also backed. read more

Does NSA Avoid U.S. Legal Restrictions by Hiring British Intelligence to Gather Information on Americans?

Seeking to evade even the weak limits placed on its spying by U.S. law, the National Security Agency (NSA) has paid at least £100 million ($155 million) to the British spy agency known as GCHQ (Government Communications Headquarters) over the last three years to conduct operations NSA legally cannot. In light of ongoing revelations regarding NSA domestic spying on Americans, the arrangement suggests that NSA is using GCHQ to break U.S. law. read more

Trail of U.S. Criminal Investigations Altered to Cover up DEA Unit’s Role as Data Source

The DEA requires police who receive the agency’s help to cover up the fact that they were given the tips—and not even tell defense lawyers, prosecutors and judges that their investigations began with the DEA. Also, Reuters obtained DEA documents showing that federal agents are trained to “recreate” the investigative trail in order to conceal the agency’s involvement in the arrests. read more

Has Fighting Terrorism Turned the U.S. into a “Post-Constitutional” Country?

“One by one, the tools and attitudes of the war on terror, of a world in which the “gloves” are eternally off, have come home,” Van Buren wrote. “The comic strip character Pogo’s classic warning—“We have met the enemy and he is us”—seems ever less like a metaphor. According to the government, increasingly we are now indeed their enemy.” read more

5 Years after Contributing to Financial Meltdown, S&P is Back to Giving Inflated Credit Ratings

Inflating the credit-worthiness of dicey Wall Street financial securities was a winning strategy for the nation’s top ratings agencies before the financial collapse of 2008 put a crimp in their style. But despite multiple multi-billion-dollar lawsuits filed by the federal government and more than a dozen states, Standard & Poor’s is revisiting those discredited practices, according to a study commissioned by the New York Times. read more

Banks Threaten to Punish Cities that Use Eminent Domain to Help Underwater Homeowners

Besides threatening court action, they are seeking legislation at the state and federal level to snuff out the nascent movement, and revving up advertising campaigns to argue their case. However, as David Brodwin of U.S. News and World Report put it, “it's hard to see why bailing out homeowners with a program of this sort is any less an affront to the principles of capitalism than bailing out banks that made bad investments in mortgage backed derivatives.” read more

Ending 25-Year Precedent, Federal Judge Rules Prosecutors in Leak Cases do not have to Prove Potential Damage to National Security

The prosecution of former analyst Stephen Kim under the Espionage Act is based on charges that he orally disclosed classified defense information to someone in the media, but does not allege that he stole or gave away documents, acted with intent to harm the U.S., received money, or acted in secret. Kim is accused of giving Fox News reporter James Rosen secret information—that North Korea was planning to test a nuclear bomb. read more

How Extensive is NSA Phone and Internet Surveillance…The Latest Revelations

The capabilities of XKeyscore for domestic spying include the following: • Analysts can use XKS to intercept an individual’s internet activity in “real-time.” • Analysts can use XKS to read an individual’s emails, whether open or unopened. • Analysts can use XKS to monitor social media, including the content of Facebook chats or private messages, and can re-create an individual’s online activities, including search terms entered and websites viewed. read more

No Warrant Needed to Obtain Cell Phone Data from Telecom Providers, Federal Court Rules

In a 2-1 ruling by a Fifth Circuit Court of Appeals panel of judges, the court said police can bypass getting a search warrant and compel cell phone companies to turn over location data for a customer because the information is “clearly a business record” and therefore not protected by the Fourth Amendment, which guards against illegal searches. Presumably, anyone who purchases a cell phone automatically gives up a certain about of privacy. read more

Army to Deploy Anti-Missile/Surveillance Blimps over Washington D.C.

JLENS, manufactured by defense contractor Raytheon, is essentially a blimp 75 yards in length that carries sophisticated radar and lenses that can see 320 miles in any direction, while hovering about 10,000 feet above the earth. read more

Pentagon Refuses to Release Names of Enemies it’s Fighting

The Pentagon is refusing to release the names of the enemies the U.S. is currently fighting on the grounds that the information is classified. A Pentagon spokesman told the journalism website ProPublica that revealing the list could cause “serious damage to national security” by allowing listed organizations to use their inclusion to inflate their importance, “build credibility … [and] strengthen their ranks.” read more

Prison Population Shrinking; States Ready to Sell Extra Prisons

Before 2010, the U.S. prison population increased every year for 30 years, from 307,276 in 1978 to a high of 1,615,487 in 2009. The decline has not affected federal prisons, which are seeing record numbers of prisoners. At least 17 states are selling or are considering selling some of their underutilized prisons. read more

The Government Project that is $6 Billion Over Budget and 10 Years Late

Originally expected to be online by 2009 at a cost of $1.6 billion, the Savannah River, South Carolina, plant is 10 years behind schedule and the bill is up to $7.7 billion—so far. A recent life-cycle cost estimate for the MOX program calculated by environmental activist Tom Clements of Friends of the Earth foresees a price tag of about $22.11 billion. The Department of Energy estimates that it won't be ready to open until November 2019. read more

Halliburton Pleads Guilty to Destroying Oil Spill Evidence…but Corporations Don’t Go to Jail

Following the blowout of the undersea well, Halliburton tried to shift the blame to BP, the British oil company, saying that Hallibuton recommended the well include 21 metal centralizers to stabilize the cementing. BP chose to use six instead. Halliburton twice told its workers to destroy computer simulations that showed little difference between using six and 21 centralizers. read more

North Carolina Republicans Propose Record-Setting Voter Restrictions

The legislation would, among other things: • End pre-registration for 16- and 17-year-olds at public high schools • Prevent counties from extending voting hours in case of long lines • Make it more difficult to add “satellite” voting sites for elderly and disabled, such as at nursing homes, by requiring unanimous approval of a county board of elections read more